***UPDATE*** On June 26, 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, upheld the third Trump travel ban (as described below) in its entirety. The Supreme Court decision, including the inspiring and furious dissent by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, may be found by clicking here.

As of October 24, 2017, all provisions of the second Trump travel ban (Travel Ban 2.0) have expired. Due to the federal court injunctions issued by federal courts in Hawaii and Maryland, many of these provisions were never enforced, at least against persons with significant ties to persons or organizations in the United States. Also on October 24, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States dismissed all appeals of the federal court orders on the grounds the cases no longer presented a live case or controversy.

On September 24, 2017 President Trump issued a “proclamation” instituting a third travel ban (Travel Ban 3.0). The new ban was to take effect generally on October 18, 2017. This ban differs significantly from the first two. Sudan has been removed from the list of banned countries, while Chad, inexplicably, has been added, along with North Korea and a very limited number of government officials from Venezuela. Unlike the first two travel bans, each country has a specific list of persons who are banned. These are as follows:

Chad: all immigrants, and B1/B2 visas

Iran: All immigrants, and all nonimmigrants except F, M, and J

Libya: All immigrants, and all B1/B2 visas

North Korea: All immigrants and all nonimmigrants

Somalia: All immigrants

Syria: All immigrants and all nonimmigrants

Venezuela: Certain government officials and their family members on B1/B2 visas

Yemen: All immigrants, and all B1/B2 visas

There are certain exemptions in the proclamation, including green card holders, dual nationals traveling on a passport not issued by one of the banned countries, and persons traveling on diplomatic visas. Discretionary waivers are also available. Unlike Travel Bans 1.0 and 2.0, Travel Ban 3.0 contains no restrictions on the admission of refugees.

On October 17, 2017 the federal courts in both Maryland and Hawaii again enjoined Travel Ban 3.0, except with respect to persons from North Korea and Venezuela. The government has now appealed the Maryland order to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Hawaii order to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

We applaud the lawyers who have worked tirelessly on these cases since the first travel ban was announced on January 27, 2017. Due to their heroic efforts many thousands of immigrants and nonimmigrants have been united with their families or have continued their careers and studies in the United States.